Mass Effect Aftermath
by lonewolf352
Summary: For Commander Shepard's crew, the pain and trials of the war against the Reapers didn't end with the Battle for Earth. Immediately Following the battle, they begin to assist in the search for Commander Shepard, hoping to find him alive or dead.


The Mass Effect Universe is owned by Bioware

Garrus limped through the rubble, a bandage tied around his thigh were a marauder had shot him. He searched frantically through the ruined hulk that had fallen from the citadel, which was suspended in orbit above Earth. Alliance personal, Asari, Krogan, Salarians, Geth, Quarians, they were all searching for the same thing, all hoping against the impossible. That Shepard was alive. His mind told him that there was no way that his friend could have survived, but his heart felt otherwise. He, couldn't explain it, but he had the same feeling after the destruction of the original Normandy, and Shepard had been brought back by Cerberus.

"Damn!" Garrus turned at the sound of Jacob Taylor's voice and saw the human pulling himself upright from where he had just slipped. Blood seeped from a fresh cut from his fall. Garrus turned back to the search, not feeling particularly talkative. Shepard couldn't be dead, not now, not after having finally defeated the Reapers. He had survived so many impossible situations during the war, Garrus refused to believe that he was dead.

"ONE….TWO…..THREE!" He heard Grunt call off as he and a group of Krogan, including Wrex, cautiously shifted a large piece of rubble impeding the search. Tali and a small group of Geth, some of the few who survived the destruction of the Reapers, crawled past the debris to search a hollow in the twisted metal. Garrus could see Major Coots directing the search crews, his frustration obvious to see, even for a Turian.

Garrus and the others searching near him jumped as the sound of ripping plating filled the air. A chunk of debris was lifted into the air and thrown aside like a pebble by Jack and Samara's biotics. Garrus shook his head, what hope did they have of even recovering his body? Yeah, his body had been recovered from the wreck of the original Normandy, but that had been nowhere near the size of the debris that had rained down from orbit, and only a small portion was from the citadel, the rest was from the ships and Reapers that had been destroyed during the battle for Earth. Even as they searched the wreckage in London, another crew led by Admiral Hackett was searching the citadel in orbit.

"Have they found anything at all?" Garrus heard a familiar voice behind him. He turned to see Miranda Lawson standing there, tears streaming down her cheeks. Her eyes were red and her face was covered in dust and grime. Her clothes were torn in many places where she had been searching.

"No…Miranda I'm…I'm sure we'll find him. There is no way Shepard would let this stop him." Garrus said with a confidence he didn't feel. He couldn't imagine what she was going through right now. "Kaiden Alenko was looking for you, I believe he wanted to speak with you."

"Did she say why?" Miranda asked, not even trying to mask her anguish.

"No, but asked me to let you know that she was going to be on the north side of the search area helping the crew there." Garrus said staring at the debris beneath his feet. It was all twisted metal sitting on top of the ruined buildings of London.

"Okay. Maybe I'll go see what she wants." Miranda said without any kind of conviction.

"You should. This isn't easy for him either, he has been here since the beginning and he said there was something he needed to tell you." Garrus told her.

"I'll be ok. I'll…I'll head over there now and speak to him." Garrus nodded as she turned and began to walk north, her shoulders slumped in despair. Garrus knew how she felt, they were all feeling it right now, Shepard had held them all together through the war, without him….Garrus didn't know what to think now. Shepard had taught him so much, he had been a guide through some of the most difficult times in his life, and now he was gone. His closest friend in the galaxy, just one more casualty of the Reaper's genocidal campaign. Even though his sacrifice had saved the galaxy and destroyed the machines, it wasn't enough. Shepard had accomplished so much to make this happen, ended conflicts hundreds of year's old, setting up a future for every race in the galaxy, and most of all he had been a beacon of hope to everyone.

Garrus wandered mindlessly through the wreckage searching every hole and shifting debris to search underneath it where he could. He ran into many of Shepard's old crew mates as he searched. Everyone was searching for him, even the Turian primarch was assisting in the search. Shuttles, gunships, and ground vehicles carted off the larger debris trying to clear the way for the search crews.

While Garrus continued the search, Miranda slowly made her way through the ruins to the northern side of the area. Her body and mind were numb from shock, how could he be gone? Why now? Why right at the end as the achieved victory over the enemy he had been struggling against since he found that beacon on Eden Prime. She felt fresh tears flow and quickly sat down, the pain was more than she could handle and she started sobbing into her hands. He was gone, and to make matters worse, she hadn't gotten the chance to tell him what she had discovered after Sanctuary. She was pregnant with his child, and now their child was going to grow up without a father. Why did this have to happen? She would have given anything to have gotten to quietly live out the rest of her life with Shepard but he was gone. She stood and forced herself to stop crying, she had to be strong, if not for herself than for their unborn child. She vowed that she would raise her child knowing not just what Shepard had accomplished, but who he had been and what he had meant for everyone who had met him.

"Miss Lawson?" Miranda tensed and turned to see Alenko standing behind her.

"Garrus….said that you wanted to speak to me." She said, still fighting off sobs.

"Yes I did….." Kaiden trailed off, staring at his feet and kicking the metal at his feet, tears filling his own eyes. "Before the final battle…Shepard…he gave me a message for you."

Miranda's heart tightened at the news, fearing what Kaiden was going to say, had Shepard known what was coming?

"He wanted me to tell you that, in the end, he wasn't fighting for the galaxy. He was fighting for you. So that you could live, he wanted you to have a future past Cerberus and the Reapers, he wanted to protect you. He loved you with his entire being. In the end, nothing mattered more to him then you. I think if all the battle had accomplished was to allow you to survive, even if the galaxy had burned, all that he cared about was keeping you safe." Kaiden said, staring her in the eye as he spoke and looking back at the Debris as soon as he had finished.

Miranda wobbled on her feet, her vision blurred through fresh tears, Kaiden reached out and steadied her so that she could sit back down. Her hands shook and she couldn't come close to finding the words to respond.

"He was my closest friend, if you need anything I'm here. He asked me to look out for you and make sure you were taken care of. No matter what happens, I will do what I can to help you." Kaiden continued kneeling next to her. She didn't notice as he motioned to Liara, who had followed him over to Miranda.

Liara sat next to Miranda and clasped her hand in an attempt to comfort her. Miranda looked up at the two of them and tried to speak. "I…I never got the chance to tell him…I….I'm pregnant with his child." Startled, Liara and Kaiden exchanged glances.

"Miranda, I am so sorry." Liara began "If there is anything I can do…" She stopped as Miranda started sobbing again and Liara pulled her into a hug, letting her sob into her shoulder.

They sat there for a few minutes, sharing in each other's grief when suddenly the debris they sat on groaned as the metal began to give out. The three tried to stand but the metal collapsed before they could come to their feet. The debris fell inward dropping them into a deep, dark space that had yet to be searched. The three tumbled in the dark, all of them suffering new cuts and bruises from the debris. Once they had come to a stop at the bottom, Kaiden stood and called Garrus on his omni tool. "Garrus, its Kaiden, Miranda, Liara and I have fallen beneath some debris can you get over here and give us a hand?"

"Are you three all right?" Garrus asked, concern filling his voice.

"Other than some scrapes we are all right, we just need some help getting out, you might need Grunt and Wrex to help move some of the debris." Kaiden replied, the light from his omni tool barely revealing the space around them.

There was a short pause before Garrus responded "All right we are on our way, Coots is sending a medic just in case."

As Kaiden spoke to Garrus, Miranda stared about the dark space, it was odd. It was made of the same materials as the citadel but seemed almost to be a very different design to any part of the citadel she had ever seen. She heard a faint sound on her right and she drew her pistol, expecting one of the reapers troops that had somehow survived the crucible, and she saw something amongst the debris that she couldn't make out. She slowly edged forward until she saw a gap in the twisted metal. She peeked through the gap and gasped in shock, she could see a chest plate marked with N7.


End file.
